Dean Etheridge
The latest in a long line of cricket franchise leagues starts this week with the inaugural season of Major League Cricket (MLC) taking place. Yes, folks, franchise cricket is coming to the USA for the first time. And in our latest cricket betting picks, we look ahead to the competition and tell you everything you need to know about the 2023 Major League Cricket season.
- What; 2023 Major League Cricket (2023 MLC)
- Where; Dallas and Morrisville, USA
- When; July 13th-31st
2023 MLC – All you need to know
Six franchises will battle it out over a total of 19 matches in the inaugural 2023 Major League Cricket (2023 MLC) season. Two venues will be used, the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas, and the Church Street Park Stadium in Morrisville.
Grand Prairie Stadium is officially OPEN 🎗️ ✂️ 🏟️ T-minus 49 hours and 9 minutes until #MajorLeagueCricket Opening Night!!!!!
Major thanks to Mayor Ron Jensen and the @CityofGP for helping to put this ribbon cutting ceremony together 🤠 🙏 pic.twitter.com/ndl5OmqWG8
— Major League Cricket (@MLCricket) July 11, 2023
The season will start with 15 group matches, with each franchise playing five group matches in a round-robin format. The top four teams will then advance to the playoffs – a further four matches.
The top two teams go straight into a Qualifier, with the winner advancing directly to the final.
There is then an Eliminator game between the teams who finished in positions three and four. The winner of the Eliminator then plays the loser of the Qualifier in what is known as the Challenger. Are you keeping up with this? And finally, the winner of the Challenger then takes the second spot in the final.
Here are the six franchises that are taking part:
- Los Angeles Knight Riders
- MI New York
- San Francisco Unicorns
- Seattle Orcas
- Texas Super Kings
- Washington Freedom
Now any eagle-eyed cricket follower might think that one or two of those names sound familiar. And they would be correct. And the reason why they sound familiar is because four of the six franchises are owned by IPL franchise owners.
The LA Knight Riders, MI New York, and Texas Super Kings are three. The fourth is the Seattle Orcas, which is owned by the same group that co-owns the Delhi Capitals.
And with backers from the IPL involved, there is the money required to attract some big names to Major League Cricket.
Big names taking part in Major League Cricket
Wow. Given there is plenty of cricket going on around the world at the moment, the list of players that MLC has managed to assemble is nothing short of impressive.
There is domestic cricket in England, and the Ashes are also taking place. So for the MLC competition to have attracted such star names highlights the level of investment made in this competition. One England player, Jason Roy, even asked to be released from his national team contract to play in this competition, risking losing his place in the World Champion’s white ball team.
BREAKING: Jason Roy has terminated his ECB incremental contract to play Major League Cricket in the US 🏏🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4OXyC67O2w
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 25, 2023
The Los Angeles Knight Riders have signed Jason Roy, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell. Turning out for MI New York will be Rashid Khan (probably the premier T20 franchise cricketer in the world), Trent Boult, and Kieron Pollard. On the playing roster for the San Francisco Unicorns are Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, and Corey Anderson.
The Texas Super Kings have signed Faf du Plessis, Devon Conway, and David Miller. Seattle has attracted Quinton de Kock, Shimron Hetmyer, Imad Wasim, and Sikandar Raza, while Washington will have the services of Anrich Norte and Marco Jansen to call on.
Make no mistake, these are some of the stars of world cricket. Their presence in this competition will only help to grow the game, and hopefully turn MLC into a long-term success.
MLC 2023 Betting
With no franchise having any form or history to go on, this may have been a difficult competition for the best cricket betting sites to price up. And as you can see from our cricket odds table, there is no overwhelming betting favorite. All the franchises look to be in with a chance.
Superstar Rashid in blue-and-gold for #MINewYork – 🎶𝙡𝒂𝙠𝒉 𝒔𝙖𝒎𝙗𝒉𝙖𝒍𝙤, 𝒑𝙖𝒈𝙖𝒍 𝒅𝙞𝒍 𝒌𝙤, 𝒅𝙞𝒍 𝒅𝙝𝒂𝙙𝒌𝙚 𝙝𝒊 𝒋𝙖𝒂𝙮𝒆 🎶 🥹💙#OneFamily #MajorLeagueCricket | @rashidkhan_19 pic.twitter.com/rntSOkova0
— MI New York (@MINYCricket) June 14, 2023
The signing of Rashid Khan by the MI New York franchise has probably had an influence, as they have been made the +300 betting favorites to win the first-ever MLC title. The Los Angeles Knight Riders and the Texas Super Kings are joint second-favorites at +450. With the San Francisco Unicorns and Washington Freedom at +500, and the Seattle Orcas (+600) last.
| 2023 Major League Cricket Winner Betting |  |  |  |
| MI New York | +300 | +300 | +300 |
| LA Knight Riders | +450 | +450 | +450 |
| Texas Super Kings | +450 | +450 | +450 |
| San Francisco Unicorns | +500 | +500 | +500 |
| Washington Freedom | +500 | +500 | +500 |
| Seattle Orcas | +600 | +600 | +600 |
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Our 2023 MLC Pick to win
MI New York (+300) and Los Angeles Knight Riders (+450) look to have signed the stronger overseas players. For New York, having Rashid Khan on their playing roster is a huge bonus. Khan is one of the top-rated T20 franchise players in the world, and any team featuring him has a chance of winning.
We think MI New York is too short to make our pick at odds of +300. But with the top four making the playoffs, if New York drifts, they might be worth backing if they go out to +500 or greater once the competition starts.
The Knight Riders are an interesting choice. An overseas trio of Jason Roy, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell is impressive. And odds of +450, look like good value. So for our betting pick, we’re going for the Los Angeles Knight Riders to win the 2023 MLC season.
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